MFA in Theater: Contemporary Performance

The MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance program is a home for the next generation
of innovators and practitioners of performance. The program is committed to creating
a laboratory for the research of new techniques, aesthetics, and pedagogies deeply
grounded in somatic training and contemplative practice, providing tools for both
the performance and creation of devised work. The 48-credit degree program is the
first graduate training program that integrates contemporary physical theater, Viewpoints
theory and practice, and traditional contemplative practices. Students are expected
to work in a technically and aesthetically extended physical, vocal, and emotional
range in service of performance and performance making. Production work and pedagogical
research, in a variety of scales are ongoing, especially in the second year. The creation
and cultivation of ensemble is at the core of the Contemporary Performance pedagogy
in training and production work, as well as research into the integration of contemplative
views with training and production values. The program strives to support careers
that integrate teaching and service with professional performance, directing, and
creation of new performance aesthetics.

Extended Vocal Technique, based on the work of Roy Hart, applied to speech and new
approaches in music theater

Somatic physical techniques and contemporary dance/movement forms;

Techniques of generating text through ensemble playwriting and self-scripting

Each student completes an integrated thesis project combining production, documentation,
creation of syllabi, and an optional practitioner's paper intended for conference
presentations or publication. Naropa MFA students have been a consistent presence
at the annual ATHE Conference. The integrated thesis project is developed under the
mentorship of core faculty.

The meditation practice and view practicum is offered in a three-semester sequence.
Substantial course work over the arc of the four semesters is dedicated to the integration
of mindfulness/awareness practice into performance technique and creation of devised
work.

Because of the professional nature of this training program, students are evaluated
on an ongoing basis to assess their readiness for working successfully in an ensemble
setting and continuing in the program altogether. The program director may deny a
student permission to continue in the program. Although grades are one indication
of progress, other criteria for evaluation include how the students interact and work
within the ensemble and with faculty and the administration, as well as how they handle
obstacles that arise and how they work with feedback based on any of the above criteria.
Please see the program handbook for details.